Florida sweeps Mississippi St

<p>Freshman Austin Maddox put a dramatic ending Sunday to No. 6 Florida's successful week at McKethan Stadium by hitting a three-run home run in the eighth inning to lift the Gators to a 4-1 win over Mississippi State and a sweep of the weekend series.</p><p> The Gators began the week Monday with a 9-3 win over Army, then followed Tuesday with an 8-5 win over No. 5 Florida State to even the season series at 1-all before sweeping the Bulldogs in the SEC opening three-game set.UF (16-3 overall) shares first place in the SEC East with South Carolina, which swept visiting Tennessee.</p><p> "It was an important week for us," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Sweeps don't come around very often in this league. And when you get a chance to finish a deal like this, especially at home, it's big.</p><p> "This is an important win for us. I knew this was going to be a tough one. They were going to do everything they possibly could to win this one."</p><p> Florida's pitching staff was up to the task, beginning with starter Hudson Randall and relievers Steven Rodriguez, Jeff Barfield, Justin Poovey and Kevin Chapman. Randall allowed just one run and four hits in 51/3 innings, while striking out five before giving way to the bullpen.</p><p> Maddox's sixth home run of the season followed a one-out walk to Kamm Washington and a single by Preston Tucker. After being down 0-2 in the count, Maddox fouled off a handful of pitches before sending the ninth offering from reliever BenBracewell over the right field fence.</p><p> "Whenever you fall down 0-2, you have to battle and try to make the best out of what you can," Maddox said of his at-bat. "I didn't think it was going out."</p><p>Mississippi State (11-9, 0-3) threatened to break open a 1-1 game in the sixth by loading the bases with one out. Barfield struck out the next two batters swinging to end the inning.</p><p> Chapman came on in the seventh to bail out the Gators from another bases-loaded situation, this time with two outs. Chapman struck out Bulldog designated hitter Jet Butler to extinguish the threat.</p><p> The Bulldogs managed to put two runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings, but Chapman (1-0) wiggled free to pick up the win.</p><p> "It was an adventure," Chapman said. "It was key for the SEC standings."</p><p> Catcher Wes Thigpen gave MSU a 1-0 lead with a home run in the second inning. Florida tied it in the home half of the inning on Jonathan Pigott's run-scoring single.</p><p>Note: Florida's Tommy Toledo will have surgery this week after suffering a fractured cheekbone and a broken nose after being hit in the face while pitching against Charleston Southern on March 14. Doctors have been waiting until the swelling went down before deciding on the reconstructive surgery. "The most important thing is to get him healthy," O'Sullivan said. "We are behind him and look forward to his return." ... The start of the game was delayed 94 minutes because of rain. ... UF next hosts Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday starting at 6:30 p.m.</p>